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La Blogotheque has done it again. Their “Take Away Show” films bands playing live stripped away versions of their songs in unique and very fitting locations. Wilco was the most recent band to be filmed and they give a great performance. Follow the links for the video:

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Stranger is the first song from Dr. Dog’s sixth album, which comes out April 6th.

It’s a great upbeat tune with chimey piano that brings you back to watching Sesame Street, or the Electric Company. That being said its a great song, and I think that nostalgia just adds to its charm. Listen yourself:

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I love The Twelves. They make amazing upbeat remixes of already brilliant songs. Anyone who can remix bands like Radiohead, Metric, A-ha, and La Roux by adding to what made the original so great, is good in my books.

Picture yourself driving faster than the speed of light through a desert with your head out the sun roof, dancing. The bass is the only thing you hear coming from the car, but the bass seems to be enough to force your body to flail wildly, trying to stay in sync. You duck your head back into the car, and hear high-pitched guitar riffs and you ask yourself “is this Bloc Party? Death Cab For Cutie? Maritime?” No. This is Two Door Cinema Club, and although their sound has obviously been influenced by bands such as Death Cab and Bloc Party, it is important to remember it has only been influenced – not copied.

The album should be looked at like you would look at Serena Williams: the front is beefed up and can still pack a punch, but the backside is where all the power comes from. “Cigarettes in the Theatre” is an opener; there is no question about that. It sets the scene for the rest of the album however, throwing heavy reverb, twangy high pitched guitars, and cowbell at you within the first 30 seconds. Then it breaks into a catchy intro that calls back to a Coldplay’s “Politik”. This is essentially the formula for TDCC: beatpacked, highpitched, punchy, and danceable tunes, that give you a few slow segments to catch your breath.

Only when you reach “Do You Want It All”, does the album really start rolling. Pushing towards the two purest gems on the album “Undercover Martyn” and “What You Know.” The journey to these two songs is not painful, however, and you certainly will not be skipping over “I Can Talk” or “Something Good Can Work” in order to get to them.

Criticism from the album has been focused around the structure of the album. Short, punchy, pop songs that all seem to follow a set structure. It seems fitting then that the band is touring with Phoenix, a band who took this formula, mastered it, and crafted it into something much deeper.

Maybe the boys in TDCC will take a few notes from Phoenix and follow suite on their next album, creating their own sound. For now I’ll enjoy this brilliant debut, because although the structure is poppy, jangly and short – it works.